Washington Regional Named #1 Hospital in Arkansas for Fifth Consecutive Year
Washington Regional Medical Center has once again been named the #1 Hospital in Arkansas for 2025-2026 by U.S. News & World Report in the publication’s latest edition of Best Hospitals. This is the fifth consecutive year Washington Regional has topped the list of Arkansas hospitals.
U.S. News evaluated more than 4,400 hospitals across 15 adult specialties and 22 procedures and conditions; only 13% of evaluated hospitals earned a Best Hospitals designation. Additionally, U.S. News rated Washington Regional as High Performing in 12 areas of care – more than any other hospital in the state. A high performing designation indicates a hospital performed significantly better than the national average in a specific procedure or condition. Washington Regional is rated high performing for many serious health issues that impact Arkansas, earning the designation for:
- Abdominal aortic aneurysm repair
- Aortic valve surgery
- Colon cancer surgery
- Diabetes
- Heart arrhythmia
- Heart attack
- Heart bypass surgery
- Hip fracture
- Hip replacement
- Knee replacement
- Lung cancer surgery
- Pacemaker implantation
“As the region’s health care leader for 75 years, Washington Regional has always been committed to providing high quality care,” said Washington Regional President and CEO Larry Shackelford. “Being ranked the #1 Hospital in Arkansas for the fifth consecutive year highlights our continued dedication to providing nationally recognized specialty care right here in Northwest Arkansas. Achieving this Best Hospital ranking supports our vision of being both the best place for patients to receive care and the best place for our team members to provide care.”
“For more than three decades, U.S. News has been an invaluable guide for patients,” said Managing Editor and Chief of Health Analysis Ben Harder. “With a ‘Best Hospital’ recognition, Americans, in consultation with their medical providers, can confidently choose a regional hospital known for providing superior care for their specific illness or condition.”
To determine the Best Hospitals, U.S. News analyzed each hospital’s performance based on objective measures such as risk-adjusted mortality rates, preventable complications and level of nursing care. The Best Hospitals Specialty rankings methodology and Procedures & Conditions ratings methodology measure patient outcomes using data from over 800 million records of patient care. For more information, visit Best Hospitals and use #BestHospitals on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and X.